An automatic sewing machine system which processes pallets containing workpieces is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,422,393 entitled "Sewing Machine Having Automatic Pallet Handling". This system processes pallets from an input location to a sewing location and thereafter to a remote location wherein a further pallet may be automatically processed from the input location to the sewing location. The processing of pallets to the sewing location is accomplished by a set of rotatable shelves that cooperate in a manner which allows first one edge of a pallet to be dropped before a second edge is dropped to the sewing location. The thus dropped pallet is locked to a carriage which is movable in the X and Y directions relative to a reciprocating sewing needle so as to thereby produce a desired stitch pattern on the workpiece. The completed workpiece within the pallet is returned to the location for receiving a dropped pallet from the input location. At this point, the pallet is unlocked from the automatic positioning system. A further mechanism, external to the automatic positioning system, releases an underlying support for the pallet. This allows the pallet to be engaged by an ejector mechanism which moves the pallet to a remote location so as to thereby allow another pallet to be attached to the automatic positioning system.
The aforementioned mechanisms for processing the pallet containing a sewn workpiece comprise a number of complex, interdependent mechanisms. In particular, the carriage of the automatic positioning system which carries the pallet during automatic sewing must register with the external mechanism that releases the underlying support for the pallet. Furthermore, holes in the pallet must accurately register with pins in the ejector mechanism in order for the ejector mechanism to move the pallet to a remote location. Any malfunction of these mechanisms will render the entire system inoperative.
It is furthermore to be appreciated that the aforementioned mechanisms can sometimes make it difficult to gain access to various portions of the automatic sewing machine system. In particular, the ejector mechanism occupies a space in front of the automatic sewing machine and to the one side of the automatic positioning system.